How to move VHD to another drive in Windows 11 or 10? In this guide, four methods will be presented step by step to help you get it done.
Have you ever wanted to move a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) to another drive but weren’t sure how? Maybe your system drive is running out of space, or you want to organize your virtual machines better. Whatever the reason, moving a VHD might seem daunting at first, but with the right steps, it’s actually straightforward. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about safely relocating your VHD files.
There are several reasons why you might need to move a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) to another drive:
🚩 Free up space: If the current drive is running low on storage, moving the VHD to a larger drive prevents performance issues.
🚩 Improve performance: Placing the VHD on a faster SSD or NVMe drive can significantly speed up virtual machine operations.
🚩 Backup and safety: Moving the VHD to a different drive or external storage ensures data protection in case of drive failure.
🚩 Organization: Keeping VHDs on a dedicated drive or partition helps manage multiple virtual machines more efficiently.
Boot or system issues: Sometimes the system drive may cause boot errors; moving the VHD to another drive can fix initialization or corruption problems.
Moving a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) to another drive can help free up space, improve system performance, or organize your virtual storage better. A VHD is essentially a file that acts like a physical hard drive, so moving it carefully is important to avoid boot issues or data loss. Here are four reliable methods to move your VHD safely.
Windows File Explorer offers a simple way to move your VHD, especially if it’s not currently in use.
Step 1. Locate the VHD file on your current drive.
Step 2. Right-click the file and select Copy or Cut.
Step 3. Navigate to the target drive or folder where you want the VHD.
Step 4. Right-click and select Paste.
If the VHD is attached in Disk Management, detach it before moving to avoid errors.
Disk Management allows you to manage virtual disks and safely move VHD files, especially for attached drives.
Step 1. Press Win + X and select Disk Management.
Step 2. If your VHD is attached, right-click it and choose Detach VHD.
Step 3. Open File Explorer and move the VHD file to the desired drive.
Step 4. Reattach the VHD by clicking Action > Attach VHD in Disk Management and browsing to the new location.
DiskPart provides a command-line method for advanced users, ideal for automation or remote scenarios.
Step 1. Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter.
Step 2. In the command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter.
Step 3. Type the following commands sequentially:
select vdisk file="C:\Path\To\VHD.vhd"
detach vdisk
exit
Step 4. Move the VHD file to your new drive using File Explorer.
Step 5. Reattach the VHD via DiskPart:
diskpart
select vdisk file="D:\NewPath\VHD.vhd"
attach vdisk
exit
AOMEI Partition Assistant is a versatile disk management tool that makes handling VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) files simple and efficient. One of its powerful features is the ability to move a VHD to another drive by using the disk or partition cloning feature. This is especially useful if your current drive is running out of space, or you want to transfer the VHD to a faster or larger storage device.
Here’s why AOMEI Partition Assistant stands out for this task:
✅ Clone entire VHD easily: You can clone the virtual disk as a whole to another drive without losing data.
✅ Flexible destination options: It allows you to move the VHD to an SSD, HDD, or even an external drive.
✅ Data integrity: The cloning process ensures that all files, partitions, and VHD structures remain intact.
✅ User-friendly interface: Its step-by-step wizard guides you through selecting the source VHD and the destination drive.
✅ Optional resize: During cloning, you can adjust the size of the partitions on the target drive to maximize space usage.
Step 1. Open the installed AOMEI Partition Assistant, click "Clone" in the main interface, and select "Clone Disk".
Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk and click "Next".
Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".
Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to "Sector to Sector clone", and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.
Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to Optimize the performance of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive.
Step 5. After returning to the main interface, check the pending operation and click "Apply" and "Proceed" to commit the operation.
No, moving a VHD while it’s attached or running can cause data corruption. Always shut down the virtual machine or detach the VHD before moving it to another location.
Moving a VHD does not change VM settings directly, but you must update the VM’s configuration to point to the new VHD path; otherwise, the VM won’t start correctly.
SSDs offer faster read/write speeds and lower latency, improving VM performance, while HDDs provide larger capacity at lower cost. Choose based on performance needs versus storage space requirements.
Yes, but it requires caution. Update the boot configuration (BCD) or VM settings after moving, ensuring the system can locate the VHD; otherwise, Windows may fail to boot.
Ensure the VM is powered off, detach the VHD if attached, use a stable transfer method, and verify the file integrity after moving to prevent corruption or data loss.
Moving a VHD to another drive doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether you use File Explorer, Disk Management, DiskPart, or a dedicated tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant, the key is detaching the disk first and verifying it afterward. By relocating your VHD carefully, you can free space, boost performance, improve organization, and protect your virtual machine data without risking corruption or boot problems.